Dentist Licensure Requirements in Mississippi

The ADA lists two examinations for Mississippi: the American Board of Dental Examiners (ADEX) examination as administered by CDCA-WREB-CITA, and SRTA.

The Board's own guidance adds that it accepts applications for licensure by examination from candidates who successfully completed a licensure examination administered by ADEX, the North East Regional Board of Dental Examiners (NERB), the Council of Interstate Testing Agencies (CITA), or SRTA, within five years of successful completion.

Section 73-9-23 requires every applicant to pass a Board examination, applying in writing and paying a nonrefundable fee at least 30 days before the exam.

A graduate of a CODA-accredited dental school must be at least 21 years old, of good moral character, hold a high school education, and have completed Parts I and II of the National Board Examinations, unless the applicant graduated before 1960.

A graduate of a non-ADA-accredited foreign dental school instead must be proficient in English, have completed at least six academic years of postsecondary study, already hold a license to practice in the country of training, have completed at least two years of full-time post-doctoral dental education at a CODA-accredited school certified by that school's dean as equivalent, and have completed Parts I and II of the National Boards.

Section 73-9-23 also lets the Board require that examinations be conducted using live human subjects.

Board Regulation Number 14 additionally requires every candidate for licensure by examination to pass a Mississippi jurisprudence examination within 90 days of applying.

Section 73-9-24 lets the Board, in its sole discretion, grant a license to an applicant who graduated from a CODA-accredited school; has been in active practice or full-time dental education for the past five years; holds a current, valid, unrestricted license in a state the Board deems equivalent to Mississippi and that grants reciprocity to Mississippi licensees; provides an endorsement from every state where they are or have ever been licensed; has no pending or final disciplinary action or pending investigation in any state; has passed a state or regional clinical licensure exam and not failed one elsewhere in the past five years, and has never failed a Mississippi exam; agrees in writing to appear for Board interviews; has completed the National Board Examinations (unless the applicant graduated before 1960); passes a written jurisprudence examination; and pays the application fee.

Board Regulation Number 47 clarifies that 'actively practicing' means a minimum of 90 days of practice per year, and that an approved residency program may count toward the five-year active-practice requirement.

The Board may issue special institutional, teaching, provisional, and military-spouse licenses under Section 73-9-28 and Board Regulation Number 7.

Under Section 73-9-29, a Mississippi-licensed dentist who has met the requirements of the ADA's Council on Dental Education, or otherwise met the Board's rules, in a specialty branch may apply for a specialist certificate; a dentist may not hold out as a specialist or advertise as such until the Board has issued that certificate.

The Board recognizes the currently recognized dental specialties defined by the National Commission on Recognition of Dental Specialties and Certifying Boards and the ADA, including Dental Anesthesiology, Dental Public Health, Endodontics, Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Oral Medicine, Orofacial Pain, Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Pediatric Dentistry, Periodontics, and Prosthodontics.

Board Regulation Number 43 requires that any advertisement referencing services state either 'general practice' or 'general dentistry,' or the ADA-recognized specialty the dentist practices, immediately after the dentist's name and degree.

The biennial renewal period for dentists runs from January 1 of an even year through December 31 of the following odd year.

Licensed dentists must complete 40 hours of Board-approved continuing dental education (CDE) per biennial period, and, if the dentist prescribes, administers, or dispenses controlled substances, 3 hours of Board-approved CDE on opioid prescribing per period; the source does not state whether those 3 hours count toward the 40-hour total or are required separately.

A licensee's first biennial renewal period, enrollment in full-time post-graduate specialty training, and any renewal period during which the license was inactive are exempt.

Non-in-person CDE must include a post-study examination, records must be kept for at least three years, and the Board conducts random audits; noncompliance penalties escalate from a $500 fine on a first offense up to a $5,000 fine plus a six-month suspension on a fifth offense.

Reinstating a voided or revoked license, or reactivating an inactive license, requires 20 hours of CDE within the prior 12 months and a passing score on the Board's jurisprudence examination.